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| | Issue #20.20 :: 05/16/2007 - 05/22/2007 | So Long, Not Goodbye
Johnny Irion & Sarah Lee Guthrie at The Big Apple: May 16-17
| BY FREE TIMES WRITERS
| By Mike Miller
One winter’s night in England a couple years ago, Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie were rocking out with a full band in The Borderline, a downstairs club in London’s West End. Two nights later they were 300 miles to the north, just the two of them this time, in a small Newcastle club called The Cluny, where the sit-down crowd was mesmerized by their take on timeless American folk music.
At some point during both shows, Sarah Lee informed the crowd that she and Johnny were from Columbia, and each time I took pride and marveled at that fact, seeing how Columbia is not exactly known for exporting such marvelous musical talent to the rest of the world. Alas, that prideful feeling of hearing Sarah Lee tell audiences they’re from Columbia is becoming a thing of the past.
She and Johnny are moving north to build a cabin on 100 acres of Massachusetts countryside where they’ll be closer to Sarah Lee’s family. They will, however, continue to own the house in West Columbia’s mill village that has been their home for the past eight years.
“I want to keep some of our roots in Columbia, because I love it there so much,” Sarah Lee said, calling from a tour stop in New Mexico. “I do get a little sad when I think about moving. We have so many good friends in Columbia.”
Sarah Lee and Johnny wouldn’t say goodbye to Columbia without throwing a party. “These will be farewell shows of a sort,” Johnny said, “but we’re not going to be gone for good. We’ll be back in town every now and then.”
For those who don’t know the whole story, Sarah Lee is a descendant of American folk music aristocracy. She’s the granddaughter of Woody and daughter of Arlo Guthrie. After graduating from high school in 1997, she hit the road, ended up in Los Angeles, made some friends and decided to stay. One of those friends was Irion, a country-rocker from the Carolinas who introduced her to the joys of songwriting. Other joys followed, and they were married in 1999.
They moved to Columbia and released a pair of solo albums in 2001: Johnny’s Unity Lodge and a self-titled disc from Sarah Lee. They recorded the critically acclaimed Exploration as a duo in 2005 and followed it up with tours of America and Europe. Along the way, daughter Olivia was born. She’ll turn 5 in August.
Just like the diversity of those two shows in England, Johnny and Sarah Lee’s music bounces effortlessly from rock to folk, with a heaping helping of country thrown in occasionally for good measure.
But Johnny has charted a slightly different course on his recently recorded second solo album, Ex Tempore, which will arrive in stores in July. The 12-song album is more lush and full-bodied than previous work, full of strings and beautiful, piano-based melodies.
“It’s a pretty ambitious record, especially the arrangements,” Johnny said. “We were going for a certain vibe.”
Johnny might tour next fall in support of Ex Tempore, but he’s not certain. Right now he has other things on his plate, such as building that cabin in Massachusetts and welcoming the birth of the couple’s second child in August.
And how is mom coping with all the changes?
“I’m really looking forward to heading back home,” Sarah Lee said. “It’s a great community there.”
Sarah Lee will be taking a maternity leave from touring, but she will be writing songs for her own solo album as well as for a duo album she and Johnny hope to start recording at the start of 2008.
They might say they’re from Massachusetts when they tour for that album, but their friends and fans in these parts will know better. For us, they’ll always be from Columbia.
The Big Apple is located at the corner of Park and Hampton streets. Shows are at 8 p.m., and tickets are $22 ($20 in advance). Call 753-7478 or visit gallery701.com for more information. | |
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